Bridal shower activities are quickly becoming the norm for bridal showers. What started out as a fun trend a few years ago is now becoming more commonplace at showers. Sure, there’s still a lot of fun, classy bridal shower games you can play. But if the bride-to-be is firm about not playing any games, you need to fill the time for your guests somehow.

I did a blog post on fun bridal shower games you can play that won’t make guests groan. But I get it – not every bride-to-be wants games at her shower. 

So, what can you do instead if you have a bride who does not want any sort of bridal shower games at all? You don’t just simply want your guests to sit around and watch the bride-to-be open gifts, right? So what is a hostess/maid of honour/bridesmaid to do?

I have some options for you.

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Bridal shower game alternatives

If you’re looking for some fun bridal shower activities, I perused through Pinterest for you and did some of the dirty work. I’ve combed through Martha Stewart Weddings and Brides magazine a few times. I Googled every permutation of “bridal shower activities that aren’t games.”

And here are some of my favourite bridal shower activities I came across:

Date night jar

Get guests to write down a unique date night idea on a piece of paper, wooden popsicle stick, or anything else you feel like. Get creative! You can make this as simple or as creative as you like. Put the completed papers in a big jar that the bride and groom can draw from when they’re looking for something new and fun to do as newlyweds!

Scrapbook page station

This is a great activity that will get your guests doing something fun while creating a memorable keepsake for the bride. Ask your guests to bring their favourite photo of them and the bride-to-be. Or, have a bunch of photos printed off of the bride and have them handy at the shower. You’ll want to set up a table and have the following items available so that guests can create their own scrapbook page to put into an album for the bride:

• Scrapbook paper/construction paper (Michaels/Hobby Lobby or any craft store has a large selection or you can try these ones on Amazon)
• Scrapbook pages to put into an album
• Adhesive (photo corners, tape runner etc.)
• Fun stickers (we like this bundle on Amazon for a good starting point!) 
• Washi tape to tape down photo corners and use for fun trim/embellishments on pages)
• Embellishments (think rhinestones, adhesive pearls, etc.)
• Pens/fine tip markers for writing
• Scrapbook album for guests to put their final pages/layouts into

1. You can find many of these items at your local craft store (and some dollar stores have a great selection, too!) Be sure to search for coupons at your local craft store, like Michaels, before heading to purchase your supplies, as most major craft stores have a weekly coupon that can save you lots of money on these items.

Wine tasting

Bring in an expert from a local sommelier, wine boutique or liquor store to do a wine tasting with your guests. This can be a fun way for your guests to learn something new while sampling a variety of different wines. Or, if you would prefer to do a DIY tasting, you can follow Lauren Conrad’s advice on how to do your own wine tasting.

DIY fragrance bar

I love this activity! This is a perfect activity to do for a ladies-only event like a bridal shower. In some larger cities, there are companies or consultants who can come to your event for a fee and run a DIY fragrance station for you, as well as provide a brief educational overview of scents that pair well. There are also DIY options for you, like these DIY fragrance kit options. You can also create your own scent combinations with these 15 essential oil perfume recipes.

If you’re going the essential oil route, see if you can get a Young Living, DoTerra or other local essential oil company rep to come to your event for a small fee. Most of them are happy to oblige and sometimes drum up extra orders for their company as a result.

Design a wine label for the bride and groom

Purchase some blank wine labels. Set up small station at a table with the labels, markers, and anything else you might like to include for guests to dress up and create their own wine labels for the couple, such as rhinestones, washi tape, fun stickers, etc. Leave the creativity up to guests, but tell them they can either draw something they want on the label, write a sweet message for the couple, or come up with something sassy like these labels.

DIY bath bomb station

This is another super fun (and fairly easy!) activity to set up for your guests, plus it can double as a shower favour for them to take home! We particularly these DIY bath bomb kits from The Fizz Biz Shop on Etsy that come with everything you need (just make sure you purchase enough kits to make sure each guest can make 1-2 bath boms to take home).

Or, if you would prefer to buy the materials yourself for a larger shower, there are lots of easy DIY bath bomb recipes on Pinterest. Based on this one we found, here’s what you would need:
– baking soda (linked a large bag since you need lots!)
– citric acid
– Epsom salts
– essential oils or other fragrance oil
– olive oil
– safe colorants
– bowl and whisk
– bath bomb mould
– bags for guests to put bath bombs into to take home

Paint party

Purchase a bunch of small canvases. You’ll also need a variety of acrylic paint in different colours, paint brushes and glasses to fill with water so your guests can clean their brushes. Have a picture of something easy to paint (there’s lots of easy step-by-step tutorials available online, like this dandelion heart painting) or just leave it as a free for all for guests to paint what they like. You can choose to either have the guests take home their painting as a shower favour, or let them create a sweet painting or message of their own for the happy couple to cherish and hang in their home.

Sugar scrub station

A sugar scrub station is a super fun and easy activity to put together. There’s a lot of recipes on Pinterest, like this brown sugar and coconut oil sugar scrub. And best of all you only need four ingredients: brown sugar, solid coconut oil, vanilla extract and a jar to put it in. Easy peasy.

DIY nail polish bar

This one definitely requires a few more materials and some good pre-planning, but how COOL would it be if your guests could put together their own signature nail polish colour?  We found this amazing DIY nail polish bar on Pinterest. Just click on the pin for instructions. You’ll need the following materials:

• Empty nail polish bottles, mixing balls and funnels
• Mica powders
• .15 cc scoops
• Nail polish base (check your local beauty supply store)
• Nail polish grade glitter
• sticker labels and pens for naming/labelling

Lip gloss bar

Again, this is another fairly simple and fun activity for your guests! Have your guests make their own signature lipgloss with a tint and flavour of their choosing (this recipe uses Koolaid to tint and flavour!) Ingredients are fairly simple and easy to find – the only thing you may need to purchase online in advance are some small lip gloss pots, but that’s all!

I hope you enjoyed our bridal shower activities ideas! Be sure to also check out our fun bridal shower games post for some other fun ideas to supplement any activity you might want to try.